Animated toy



Dec. 1, 1925. 1,563,548

W. BRASHEAR, JR

ANIMATED TOY File y 19, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Wa/f'er Brasheor Jr.

BY M 4- I ATTO NEYS Patented Dec. 1, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,563,548 PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER BRASHEAR, JR., OP CASTLETON, NEW YORK,.ASSIGNOR TO FORT ORANGE PAPER COMPANY, OF CASTLETON-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ANIMATED TOY. 1

Application filed May 19, 1924. Serial No. 714,370.

To all whom it may concern:

7 Be it known that I, Var/ran Bnnsrrnan, J12, a citizen of the United States, residing at Castleton-on-Hudson, in the county of Rensselaer, New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Animated Toys, of which the following is a clear, full, and exact description.

This invention relates to animated toys and particularly to toys which illustrate reading matter, such, for example, as a Mother Goose rhyme. V

An important object of the invention is the provision of an animated toy which may be mailed without damage and which may be made ready to operate ina, few seconds. I 7

Another object is to provide an animated toy of attractive appearance whichmay be very simple and cheap to construct, but relatively durable even when made of light, inexpensive material.

Still another object is the provision of an animated toy Which may be shipped flat so as to re uire a minimum cargo space, but which Wlll have an appearance of mass and solidity when set up for use.

V In carrying out the foregoing and other objects of the invention, there is provided a construction one embodiment of which is itlustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which vFi 1 is a development of a blank from which the toy may be constructed;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the blank folded ready for individual shipment;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the toy set up ready for use;

Fig. 1 is a view similar to Fig. 2 with the base portion of the blank removed; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the toy set up for use, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The blank may be made from light, in expensive material, such as boxboard, and in its preferred form may be cut and printed on a sin le surface only, which is hereinafter referred to as the front of the blank. As shown in Fig. 1, the blank is of approximately reetan ular outline and is subdivided by seorin (lndicated by broken lines) into at least t ree portions 5, 6 and '2', and insome cases a smaller fourth portion 8. The upper portion 5 is" no wider than the portions 6 and 7, which are adapted to be folded on the scored di iding H1 S9 to enclose portion 5 and protect it when a single toy is shipped, for example, through the mail. Theend flap is provided with ears 9 which tuck through slots 10 in portion 6 to maintain the blank in its folded position. When the toy is to be used, the ears 9 are withdrawn from their slots, the blank is unfolded and laid face down upon a flat surface, such as a table. The front end panel 5 is then folded to a vertical position, and wings 11 at opposite ends of the panel 5 are bent rearwardly to the position shown in Fig. 5, in which position ears 12 may be tuckedv through slots 13 to hold'the panel at a predetermined angle to the remainder of the blank. In the case elected for illustration, this angle would be ninety degrees, but it is apparent that any desired angle may be seleced in accordance with the angle between the base line 14 of wings 11 and the pivot line 15 between the wings and the central body portion of panel 5.

The panel 5 serves as a base to support the movable portions of the toy. In the present embodiment which illustrates the Mother Goose rhyme, The cat and'the fiddie, the cow jumped over the moon, the background and stationary portions of the figures are depicted on the face of the panel 5, as shown in Fig. 8. Those elements of the picture which must be animated in order to illustrate the rhyme are in this case the cow 16, which must jump over the 1110011 17, and that arm 18 of the cat which holds the bow 19 of the fiddle 20. The cow 16 is preferably integral with a lever 21 which is pivotally mounted as by a brad 22 on the rear face of base 5, and extends upwardly through a slot 23, so that the cow is in front of the background depicted on the face of the panel. The arm 18 of the cat is pivoted near its upper end as by a brad 2a to the face of the base 5, and acts as a lever to move the preferably integral how 19 with lifelike angular motion. Common actuating means is provided to animate the movable elements and preferably consists of a flat strip 25, of the same material as the rest of the toy, which is pivotally connected to levers 18 and 21. The connection 26 may conveniently be above pivot 22 about which the cow and its supporting lever 21 rotate, while the connection 27 between actuat ing strip 25 and the arm 18 is below the pivot 24 about which the arm 18' rotates.

inade of minimum width.

Pivot 27 passes through a slot 28 in the base to connect with -armil8. Since it is desirable to make slots 23 and 28 inconspicuous, they are most desirably made arcuate "about the pivots 22 and '24 as centers, and thus may be Air-integral tab 29 projects rearwardly from actuating strip 25 to facilitate translational movement of strip 25.

From the foregoing description it will be obvious that movement of tab 29 and strip 25 to the left, from the position shownin Figs. 3 and 4, will move lever 21 in a counter-clockwise direction, lowering the cow from its over-the-moon position to a position in which its hind legs may project below the lower edge of panel 5, while the cats arm and fiddle how are moved in a clockwise direction 'until they are in a positionto commence the next forward stroke of the bow. By moving the actuating strip in the opposite direction, the reverse of these movements will be produced, thus resulting in the necessary animation to illustrate the particular rhyme to which this embodiment of the invention applies.

It will beapparent that the invention may be applied to animatedwtoys in which the figures depicted may be chosen at will, that more than two separateeleinents may be animated by a common actuating means, and that the elements to be animated may be given'other motions than rotary without de parting from thespirit of the invention.-

hat I claim is I 1. A blank for animated toys comprising a sheet subdivided into a base portion animated figures mounted on said base portion,

and portions foldable to enclose the base portion, said latter portions having means for maintaining the blank in folded condition.

2. A. blank for animated toys comprising a flat sheet subdivided into at least three portions, one portion serving as a base animated figurcs carried by said base, the two adjoining portions being foldablearound the base portion to enclose and protect the same during shipment.

3. A blank for animated toys comprising a sheet subdivided into a'base portion and an enclosing portion foldable to protect the base, the base portion being further subdivided into a central portion and relatively fo'ldable end portions, and means for con necting llllG Qlld portions to the enclosing portion to support the base at a predetermined angle to the adjacent enclosing portion of the blank.

4. A device of the character described comprising a sheet of suitablev material divided to provide a plurality of panels, one

of which constitutes a base for supporting movable figures, another of which constitutes a closing flap, the remaining panels constituting enclosing panels when folded, a plurality of slots formed in one of said enclosing panels, slot engaging means carried by that panel constituting the base for the movable'iigures for supporting said panel in substantially upright position, and slot engaging means carried by the panel constituting the closing" flap to secure all of said panels in folded relation.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 12 day of May, 1924:.

VVVALTER BRASH'EAR. J 

